Feature

Indian Power

Fueled by money from casino gambling, New Mexico’s Indian pueblos and reservations are throwing their political weight into the state’s water tug-of-war

Editor's Note

New Mexico’s new governor must reckon with history

Probably no other Western state is as deeply fractured as New Mexico, with its complex mix of Indian, Hispanic and Anglo cultures and their long, turbulent history

Dear Friends

Dear Friends

Scratch the metamorphosis bit; Team HCN at Race to Stop Global Warming; and spring visitors

News

Wilderness takes a massive hit

Starting in Utah, Interior Secretary Gale Norton has slammed the door shut on new BLM wilderness proposals and inventories and wilderness study areas

The Latest Bounce

BLM announces new policy for approving oil and gas permits; black bear hunt still on in New Mexico; court says water from coalbed methane wells is "industrial waste," Colorado gets rights to water from Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park; Interior

Cold War toxin seeps into Western water

Ammonium perchlorate, a toxic ingredient in rocket fuel, has appeared in Nevada’s Lake Mead as well as in other Western water sources used for drinking and irrigation

Perchlorate: It’s not just for rocket fuel anymore

Some watchdog groups say the Pentagon is trying to avoid responsibility for pollution from the perchlorate used in military munitions

Montana debates bison-hunting season

Montana lawmakers are considering reintroducing a bison hunt to control the animals that wander into the state from Yellowstone National Park

Bison arrive in Grand Canyon uninvited

A herd of bison has wandered into the northern part of Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park, and managers are trying to figure out whether bison have a "natural" history in the area

Book Reviews

Roadkill 101

Hayden Valley Elementary School in Hayden, Colo., is using its "Critter Control Project" to map wildlife roadkill patterns and find solutions to the problem

Mary Colter discovered

In Mary Colter: Architect of the Southwestt, Arnold Berke rediscovers a long-forgotten woman architect whose innovative designs still grace the region

Birdman’s biography soars

Cool North Wind: Morley Nelson’s Life with Birds of Prey by Stephen Stuebner tells the story of one of the most underrated and interesting conservationists in the West

Hit the audio road in Nevada

Jon Christensen’s Nevada Variations is an entertaining and enlightening collection of audio profiles from each of the state’s 17 counties

Essays

Water principles of the West begin with blaming California

Colorado’s nice-sounding new "water principles" ignore the traditional, real principles that have long defined water rights – and the fight over them – in the region

A desert’s stolen secrets

As Baghdad’s museums are stripped bare by looters, a desert wanderer recalls the experience of finding a perfect Anasazi pot, hidden in an unnamed Utah canyon

Heard Around the West

Heard Around the West

Monterey, Calif., vs. cruise ships; Hetch Hetchy bottled water a bust; former Gov. Fife Symington’s new life in the dough; animal smuggler caught with monkeys in his pants; beaver visits Kennewick, Wash.; a giant lava lamp for Soap Lake, Wash.; and Penny

Letters

Disengaging in a time of war

Disengaging in a time of war

Beyond 'predator-prey'

Beyond 'predator-prey'

Nevada development was inevitable

Nevada development was inevitable

Related Stories

The pueblos’ roller-coaster rise to power

A timeline traces the history of the pueblos of New Mexico

The Colorado River’s sleeping giant stirs

The Navajo Nation wants to start receiving its long-withheld share of the Colorado River’s water